Tech professor, ex-U.S. attorney general to addresss LULAC banquet

Published: Thursday, February 18, 2010

LEE GREEN

The Lubbock League of United Latin American Citizens will host a well-known Texan and political figure - Alberto Gonzales - as its keynote speaker for the 27th annual Scholarship and Awards Banquet on Saturday at the Holiday Inn Towers and Suites.

Former U.S. Attorney General Gonzales, a visiting political science professor at Texas Tech, is to speak to LULAC Council 263 about issues facing the Hispanic community.

Gonzales, who also served as Texas' secretary of state and sat on the state Supreme Court, said one of the things he will address is the importance of education, and his ideas align with LULAC's goals.

"I think education represents freedom in this country," he said. "LULAC can make a difference in terms of informing the community about what's possible and also by providing scholarship funds to go to college."

Alice Lozada, the executive director of Council 263, said the group uses money raised from the banquet to fund scholarships.

"We obtain scholarship applications from students all across the region," she said, "and then those applications are screened, and the recipients are given those scholarships in August at our reception."

Gonzales said many Hispanic children come from poor families, and their parents are often uneducated or poorly educated, so they see little opportunity to get a college education. He said he hopes his background and his political service can inspire them.

"I think having someone like me come speak shows them, 'Well, this is a guy whose mother had a sixth-grade education, father had a second-grade education, they were migrant workers, and now he's able to do that because of an education.' "

Gonzales also indicated he would caution the group against being taken advantage of politically, and said exercising the right to vote is critical, because on election day everyone is equal.

"We live in a country where you can still achieve great things," he said, "but it's only possible if you get an education and if you change society by participating in the electoral process."

LUBBOCK/ Texas Tech professor, former U.S. attorney general to stress education at scholarship banquet